Best Frontend Courses- A Roadmap to Mastery

Created: Nov 6th, 2018

It’s 2018, and long gone are the times JavaScript was mocked as a kiddie
language. According to an extensive Stackoverflow 2018 survey, JavaScript is now
the
most popular language on the web by far, powering a wide range of sites and
frontend libraries and frameworks that are used by millions of sites worldwide:

From Google, Facebook, to just about every startup around every corner,
JavaScript and frontend developers are in high demand. According to data from
Indeed.com, the average salary for frontend developers in the US last year was
$107,770:

If you’re serious about becoming a frontend developer, you need the right
guidance. Sure you can read tutorials online to learn, though I’m a big believer
in structured courses that can dramatically cut down on your learning time. As
Benjamin Franklin puts it more succinctly: “Time is Money”.

In this article, I’ll lay out the best paid courses online to master
JavaScript and other vital frontend frameworks such as React, Vue.js, and
Node.js to become a frontend jedi in no time. Work smart, not hard.

Best JavaScript
Courses Online to Take

As most web developers will tell you, learning JavaScript is easy, mastering
it however is a different story. The following two courses provide a one two
punch to not only help you grasp all the technical and nuisances of JavaScript,
but also bring you up to speed on the very latest iterations of JavaScript
called ECMAScript Next.

The Complete JavaScript Course
Many developers spend years learning JavaScript without ever truly grasping
the nuisances that make it such a versatile language. In the Complete JavaScript
Course, Jonas has put together over 26 hours of video lessons to finally help
you truly understand JavaScript from the inside out. Code challenges and real
world projects sprinkled throughout the course help bring your knowledge to life
and solidify your understanding.

ES6, ES7 & ES8, TIME to update your JavaScript
If you’re already familiar with JavaScript and just wish to quickly get up to
speed on the latest iterations of the language, this is the best course to help
you do that. Learn all about ECMAScript, how it fits into JavaScript, plus the
latest and greatest features that ES6, 7, and even 8 bring to the table, from
Classes, Async and Await, Generators, and more. Take your JavaScript skills to
the next level with this course.

Best JavaScript
Framework Courses to Take

As a modern day frontend developer, mastering JavaScript frameworks such as
React and Vue.js is a given, especially if your goal is to work at a company or
take up freelancing. According to
SkillCrush, the 5 most important JavaScript frameworks to learn in 2018
are:

Node JS: JS Framework that runs on the backend for large scale
applications. Indeed US Job Listings: 9,700+

In my opinion, looking at 2019 and beyond, the 3 most important JavaScript
frameworks to master are Vue.js, React, and Node.js. All of them are on a
strong growth trajectory that's unlikely to be dampened in 2019, with a growing
job market to justify learning them.

Here is the popularity of Vue JS, React, and Node JS projects based on the number of stars
accumulated on Github in the last 12 months (ending Nov 7th, 2018). This
gives a good indication of the momentum of the frameworks moving into 2019:

With the above graph you can clearly see the force is with Vue JS, React, and
Node.js.

Here are the best online courses in my opinion to help you master these three
frontend (and back) frameworks quickly:

React JS, Angular & Vue JS - Quickstart & Comparison
For those of you undecided on which JavaScript framework to learn, this is a
great introductory course that not only teaches you the basics of all 3 popular
frameworks, but compares how they are different so you can make an informed
decision on which framework to go deep in.

Vue JS 2- the Complete Guide
This is one of the most popular courses on Vue JS, and for good reason. Not
only does it teach you all the essentials of Vue JS, including Vue Router & Vuex,
it delivers all that knowledge in bite sized 2-4 minute videos that are easy to
grasp and refer back to if needed. The depth and structure of the course has
proven to be a huge hit with students, with over 60k students enrolled and
counting.

React 16- the Complete Guide
If that’s one React course that covers all the moving parts of React (ie:
ReactJS, Redux, React Router 4, and even Animations), and does it so well, it’s
this course. Brought to you by the same acclaimed author that created Vue JS the
Complete Guide, the small size of each module plus focus on building real world
React apps is what makes this course such a hit with the author’s 70k+ students.

Node.js: The Complete Guide to Building RESTful APIs
If there is one JavaScript framework that has stood the test of time, that’s
Node.js. Still going strong after 10 years with no signs of abating, Node allows
frontend developers to use JavaScript on the backend, opening up a whole new
world of possibilities. This is the most lasered focused, practical course on
Node.js on Udemy. 15 hours of video lessons takes you from setting up Node.js,
to deploying Node.js apps with the help of MongoDB and Express.

Other Essential
Frontend Courses to Complete your Frontend Skill Set

Modern JavaScript [Workflow] Explained for Dinosaurs
The workflow of the modern frontend developer has greatly evolved. Gone are
the days of manually downloading JS and CSS files and adding references to them
on your pages. In this excellent tutorial, Peter shows you all the tools
frontend developers use these days, and their benefits, from NPM, Webpack,
Babel, to Grunt.

Git a Web Developer Job: Mastering the Modern Workflow
As a frontend developer working in any group setting, a good understanding of
version control and workflow tools like Git and NPM is a must. After reading the
above introductory tutorial, I recommend this course to really gain an in depth
knowledge of all the modern web tools that not only makes managing and deploying
your code so much easier, but is expected of you in most workplaces these days.

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links, although I
only promote services I genuinely feel will positively impact my readers. All
opinions are 100% my own.